Along with their Android software upgrade, Galaxy S III users in Poland, India, the UK, France, Sweden, Italy, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Algeria have also been introduced to something Samsung is calling Premium Suite. The upgrade brings some of Samsung's newer features, designed for the more recent Galaxy Note II, to the Galaxy S III.

That includes features like screen splitting, which allows you to use different apps in separate windows at the same time. Meanwhile, other new features of the Premium Suite upgrade fall in to the "contextual awareness," category, says Slashgear.

The most notable among those is the predictive "Page Buddy" feature, designed to intuit the appropriate response to your actions, like "launching the music player when headphones are plugged in," says Slashgear.

Though the Premium Suite upgrade has so far only been released to Galaxy S III users outside of the North American Continent, there's no reason to assume it won't be heading to the U.S. at some point soon, even if you've already received your Jelly Bean update.

Oh, and as a bit of an aside, Premium Suite is hardly the last trick Samsung's got up its sleeve for the near future. Rather, the company has already been teasing in pictures and video, telling us to "get ready" as "something new" is coming in 2013.

Still from a Samsung teaser video promising "something new" in 2013

The general opinion is that Samsung will reveal their big surprise at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). But though the event has traditionally been a venue for new product launches, Mobile Syrup warns us not the get too excited over the possibility of a new Galaxy device, as "we probably won’t see the Galaxy S IV announced at CES."

Still, as you can imagine, the rumor mill is already turning, big-time.

Samsung's latest "phablet," the Galaxy Note II, is currently only available in Titanium Grey and Marble White

We get it. Smartphones are kind of like cars when it comes to color. Most people aren't going to rush out and get a hot pink or chartreuse model when they can stick with a basic hue like black or silver. And accordingly, smartphone makers tend to play it safe with new devices, usually releasing them in a pretty sober spectrum.

But, just like cars, sometimes we want our cellphones to be a little more distinct and it seems Samsung gets that. The company launched a new line of nature-inspired colors for their Galaxy S III phone back in August, and SamMobile reported today that they'll be doing the same with their latest "phablet," the Galaxy Note II. At the moment the device is only available in Titanium Grey and Marble White.

So far, the Galaxy Note II's new color variants are just a rumor. SamMobile cites an "insider" who says the new device will start rolling out in new hues like Amber Brown, Topaz Blue and Ruby Wine as early as this December or the beginning of 2013.

And while we've already seen the color Samsung calls Amber Brown in their newest Galaxy S III models, the other rumored color names don't match up to anything we've seen from Samsung yet.

In any case, if you've been thinking about getting a Galaxy Note II but haven't done so yet, it might be worthwhile to wait until after the holidays, unless of course you're into basic black and minimalist white.

Image from Samsung's save the date for the October 24 kick-off to their Galaxy Note II world tour

Wait Samsung, don't tell us. You may have revealed the last "next big thing" back in October, but is the "next next big thing" a larger Galaxy Note device? According to the rumor mill of late, the answer is yes.

Within the same week that Samsung boasted of selling 3 million Galaxy Note II devices, a new DLNA certification (first reported on by SamMobile) shows that the company may already have some successors in the works.

The certification lists two new Samsung-made devices – GT-N5100 and the GT-N5110 – that SamMobile says are sized between 7 and 9 inches. And if you're in doubt as to the fact that the devices listed will in fact be Galaxy Note variants, AndroidGuy points out that the certifications for all “previous Note products start with GT-N.”

If there's any truth to SamMobile's report, it may be that Samsung is looking to fill the gap between their 5.5-inch and 10.1-inch Note models.

As, for why Samsung would want to release a 7-inch Galaxy Note when they've already got the 7.7-inch Galaxy Tab, it may just be that the company sees the Note line, with its stylus pens, as distinct from the rest of their mobile devices.

"Samsung clearly sees this market as separate from its mainstream phone line," writes Mobile Syrup, "and the two won’t necessarily cannibalize sales from either one."

Whether by accident or not, Apple seems to time its events to overshadow those of its competitors.

Here's the thing with Apple. Rumors surface, and create a little buzz, until one of its competitors announces news of their own, and the Apple rumor dies. And then wham! Apple comes out and makes the revelation everyone thought they would, trumping all the interest in whatever it was their competitor has just announced.

Pure Mobile reported yesterday that Samsung has sent out invitations for a special Galaxy Note II event in New York City scheduled for October 24. It's the kickoff to the the new device's world tour, and was likely to get the lion's share of tech reporting and headline space. Until...

Well, it turns out that the Galaxy Note II will have to share the spotlight, since Apple's just announced it will be holding an event for the iPad Mini – get this – October 23.

Likely to be unveiled October 23, Apple's iPad Mini is expected to be slightly smaller and slightly cheaper than its predecesor

When we initially reported on rumors of an iPad Mini event, we cited Forbes (among others) who said to expect invitations to start rolling out on the October 10. That makes us only a couple of days behind schedule.

In addition to the rumors of an upcoming Galaxy S III Mini event in Germany (which we reported on last week), Samsung has confirmed an October 24 event in New York City as the first US stop on the Galaxy Note II's World Tour.

This Samsung "Save the Date" teased with a pic of a stylus but no mention of the Galaxy Note II

Late last month, Samsung was already teasing the affair, with a "Save the Date" card showing a stylus pen and the tagline "The Next Big Thing Is Here." However, the next generation Galaxy Note "phablet" was never shown. But the official invitations, which started rolling out yesterday, do show and name the device, removing all previous doubts.

The official press invite confirms the Galaxy Note II as the focus of the October 24 event in New York

Still, this is likely to be the beginning rather than the end of all speculation about the new combination phone and tablet. It doesn't mark the release of the new Galaxy Note II, and it won't be the first time the device has been seen.

So what can we expect to learn about the latest smartphone in Samsung's Galaxy lineup?

Well, for one, we may finally get some sort of confirmation on the Galaxy Note II's American release date. And hopefully, Samsung will be giving us some notion of its price, too.